Derry bar owner fined over counterfeit vodka

A Derry bar owner has been fined £1,500 at Londonderry Magistrates Court for selling counterfeit and under strength vodka. 

M, C & A Trading Ltd trading as the Castle Bar, Waterloo Street pleaded guilty to two charges under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and one charge under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Trading standards officers uncovered suspected counterfeit Smirnoff vodka in the optics and stored in the bar area in November 2015.

An examination by a representative for the trade mark holder confirmed labels, closures and the vodka to be counterfeit.

Further testing revealed that the spirit could not be legally classified as vodka as its alcohol strength was found to be 32.4% rather than the legal minimum requirement of 37.5%.

It was part of a Europe-wide investigation into into counterfeit food and drink.

Nicholas Lane of the Trading Standards Service said:

“Customers pay good money for a branded item. This was counterfeit and under strength.

"Counterfeit spirits are frequently made and bottled in unhygienic conditions with no quality control. In this case the Trade Mark representative expressed concern at the poor visual clarity of, and the presence of particles in, the bottles of spirit he examined.”